Fire Emblem Fates: Lineage of Fate
by SlayerMathis
Summary: The second gen characters of Fates going through their lives as Hoshido and Nohr go to war...again. Dunno how to explain it. (Note: This is an alternate timeline where Corrin never went back to Hoshido and forgot her real family. Basically the events of the game don't happen, and then in the future, the second gen exists)
1. Shigure I

**Shigure**

"It seems to be another beautiful day here in Hoshido, once again," Shigure said into the distance while riding on his pegasus.

"Of course it is, friend," Ayleito responded calmly.

Shigure smiled. The sun had just began to set above Castle Shirasagi, painting the sky in lavish reds, oranges, and pinks. It was almost entirely silent, save for the flapping of the pegasus wings and the occasional conversing between Shigure and Ayleito. The breeze the two felt up that high in the sky was relaxing, so much so that Shigure fell asleep at one point.

"Wouldn't your parents be wanting to see you soon?" Ayleito eventually said in his same calm demeanor.

"Perhaps," Shigure quietly replied, just loud enough for Ayleito to hear. "I've been missing for dinner many times, they'll understand."

"Last I heard, your father wasn't too keen on you showing up an hour late."

"It'll be fine."

The two of them were interrupted by the sound of another set of wings slowly catching up. Shigure turned aside to see a helmed Hoshidan flying the pegasus, and behind him was Shigure's brother, Kiragi.

Kiragi was nothing spectacular appearance-wise to Shigure. While many of the civilians throughout Hoshido were almost awestruck by Shigure's handsomeness (though he himself never saw it), Kiragi was rarely mentioned, save for some older women claiming him to be cute (which Kiragi never saw in himself). Kiragi had very small features to him, with a slightly angled chin and jaw. He had a small, round nose, and small ears poking out from just underneath his hair. His eyes were round and a bright amber in colour. He had ruffled hair, sky-blue, same as Shigure's, with the back tied slightly up into a knot. He wore a traditional white hakama with a black-and-blue chestguard on top, surrounded by a bear-fur waistcoat.

"Shigure!" his light, high voice shouted. "Mother and Father wish to see you for dinner!"

Shigure sighed, but he could slightly hear Ayleito attempting to hold in a laugh. "Very well," Shigure finally responded.

He turned his pegasus back to follow his brother's, with Ayleito following a ways behind. Much of the ride back to Castle Shirasagi was conducted in silence, before eventually Shigure decided to answer a question that he had been having for some time.

"Is there any special reason why Mother and Father wish to have me back for dinner?"

"Mother says you haven't been spending much time with us lately," Kiragi responded without a second thought.

"Is that all?"

Kiragi nodded. He appeared as if he was going to say something else, but he held his tongue, leaving the rest of the trip to be finished in complete silence.

The two had returned just after the sun had finished setting, letting azure-coloured skies to shine through the windows of the grand dining hall. As he was not a royal, Ayleito began to make his way back to the barracks in order to have his meal for the day.

"Once again, Shigure," his father said sternly.

"Oh, hush now Takumi," Mother said with a smile.

Father took it with a silent sigh. Father was very similar to Kiragi. He had a more angular face that that of Kiragi's, with slightly more dull grey eyes. His nose was slightly larger than that of Kiragi, though compared to others it was still very small. His hair was a very light brown, nearly grey, and was slightly ruffled before going back into a long ponytail reaching nearly to the small of his back. His clothing was rather similar to that of Kiragi's, though with a white chestguard and bear-fur cloak.

While Kiragi had taken much after Father, Shigure looked very similar to his Mother. Her face was more rounded than that of Kiragi and Father, with a petite nose and thin mouth, as well as kind, golden eyes. Her sky-blue hair was only kept organized behind her back, where it reached down to her hips. She wore a elegant white dress, with disconnected sleeves that tapered off into the form of wings as it neared her shoulders. Blue, sapphire-studded flower designs were located in several places around her dress, and she wore a brooch in the shape of a dragon's skull, with an aquamarine gem planted where the dragon's forehead would be.

"Now then, the rest of the family has eaten, so we may as well hop to it as well," Mother said happily.

A wide smile grew onto Kiragi's face, excited to see what he would be eating. Shigure could also feel a slight smile begin to grow on his own face in anticipation for the almost certain feast to come. A multitude of servants bustled back and forth between the kitchen and the dining hall where Shigure's side of the royal family dined. There were several times that servants had tripped, dropping whatever it was that they carried, before hastily cleaning it up and returning to the kitchen area.

After what seemed like an endless supply of food, coupled with a number of hours, Shigure simply could have no more. He had begun to get up, when his father politely asked, "Where are you off to?"

"I am going to take another flyaround," Shigure answered. "I need to work off some of this weight I just gained."

Shigure laughed at his own joke, to be met with silence by the rest of his family. Feeling defeated, Shigure returned to the porch where his Pegasus was seated and took off. He flew to his favourite spot, a cliff with a flowing river and waterfall around ten kilometres from Castle Shirasagi, and began to relax.

He eventually woke up with a start, not realizing he had fallen asleep, and instantly noticed another person had joined him at his lookout spot.

"Who are you?" Shigure hesitantly asked.

"Wow, you really must've been fast asleep," the voice of his Aunt Hinoka responded.

Hinoka turned towards Shigure, and gave a small smile, with her wide, fiery-amber eyes twisting to show that the smile was genuine. Her short, crimson-red hair was even more unkempt than it usually was, suggesting that she had just recently arrived at the lookout. Her small frame was covered up by a set of silver-and-red armour that tapered off into a skirt nearing her knees.

"Did I really doze off?" Shigure asked dumbfoundedly. Hinoka nodded. "Why are you even here anyways?"

"Azura… er, your mother sent me," Hinoka sheepishly replied. "It's well past midnight, and you hadn't returned since leaving for dinner. You know how we mothers act, always paranoid. So she wanted me to find you and get you. We all know that if you hadn't returned by morning, she'd send the entire army looking for you. I figured you'd be here. It's a nice spot; calm, secluded, away from all the hustling and bustling of being a royal." She paused, suddenly realizing something. "Speaking of being a royal, Ryoma wants the entirety of the royal family to meet up with the king down in Izumo, so you'd best get rested so you don't screw something up when meeting the people."

Shigure nodded, releasing a yawn, and agreed to follow Hinoka back to Castle Shirasagi. It seemed as though a long day was ahead of him.

It was growing to be about midday when the royal family made route for Izumo. At first glance, the group may not have seemed to look very royal, with many of them looking very unkempt, but yet they were the representatives of the fair kingdom of Hoshido. The caravan that lead the royal family to Izumo had wagons to separate the different members of the royal family, though the royal family sons, Shigure, Kiragi, and Shiro had decided to head with the caravan on foot. All the parents, alongside Rhajat and Mitama, had decided to stay in their wagons, likely napping.

"Hey! Shigure! Kiragi!" Shiro shouted, beaming with energy. Shiro was one of the tallest people in the family, second only to his father, King Ryoma. He had wild, spiky hair, in a very pale lavender colour, with a black headband tied around his forehead. He had a rather angular jaw, with well defined features, and excited green eyes. He wore a long, white hakama with red sleeves and a greyish-black chestguard on top of it.

"What is it, Shiro?" Shigure asked, attempting to quell his disgust with the always loud and excited nature of Shiro.

"How's about we go and do some sparring? My treat!"

"I don't really feel in the mood for it," Kiragi said, taking the words straight out of Shigure's mouth. "And I doubt that Rhajat or Mitama will want to."

"Those two are boring anyways, Kiragi!" Shiro shouted in response. "Mitama's always napping and Rhajat's just...weird. With all her...hexing and...cursing...and just being creepy."

"What about any of the retainers or their kids?" Shigure asked, trying to get Shiro away from him as quickly as possible.

Shiro sighed. "None of them are here. Dad said that the King of Izumo has something against violence, and just wants the royal family there."

"Wouldn't you think that's a bit suspicious?" Kiragi asked.

"Apparently Izumo has a really long history of nonviolence. There was some war a long time ago and a bunch of refugees came to Izumo." Shiro shrugged again.

"Well, you could ask one of the other guards, such as Ayleito for example," Shigure suggested.

"I've beaten him numerous times. Plus he's not even here"

"Kane?"

"Cakewalk."

"Yukimura?"

"He's running the show while we're out."

Finally Shigure sighed. "Fine," he began, "I'll spar with you."

Shiro's eyes lit up, and Shigure knew that he had made a grave mistake.

The royal caravan had just reached Izumo, and their parley with the King of Izumo would not be until the morning. Shigure was still sore from taking a thrashing from Shiro, who easily defeated him. While he never could confirm it, he could have sworn he felt the same chills down his spine that he would get any time that he was in the same room as Rhajat.

Now Shigure was waiting in the lobby of the inn that the royal family itself would be staying at, bored beyond his mind. He scanned the room, and aside from his family, he recognized no one. He and Kiragi were sitting at a table in the back of the inn, away from all the commotion that was taking place at the bar, where the parents (and Shiro) were.

"Hey, Shigure?" Kiragi eventually asked. Shigure looked at him quizzically. "Have you seen Mitama since we've arrived?"  
Shigure realized with a start that he hadn't seen her or Rhajat. While he assumed that Rhajat was somewhere in the shadows, like a beast stalking its prey, Mitama generally would have been forced to come to the inn, unless her father forgot her.

"I do wonder where she is..." Shigure mumbled to himself.

"Where who is?" the creepy voice of Rhajat asked.

She had startled both Shigure and Kiragi, though Shigure had managed to stay on his seat, while Kiragi was sprawled out on the floor. Rhajat laughed to herself. Rhajat had an air of mystery about her. She was always in the shadows, which seemed to surprise a lot of people considering the crimson red hair that she inherited from her mother. He wore her hair straight and simple, reaching down to the nape of her neck and with a small ponytail at the back of her head. She had a smooth face, with dull grey eyes with a certain manic feeling behind them, possibly due to the eye shadow she seemed to perpetually have. She wore a cropped black top, with a dark, thin veil underneath, as well as a flowing, long black skirt.

"What do you want, Rhajat?" Kiragi said, suddenly shouting from astonishment. "If you wanted to ask something, don't just show up out of nowhere!"

Rhajat let another laugh loose. Her demeanor changed in the blink of an eye, and she suddenly was biting her nails and calmly saying, "I heard you mention that you couldn't find somewhere and I wondered if you meant me..."

"No, we were asking about Mitama," Shigure replied, trying to still subdue the scream he nearly let out.

"Oh, our little poet girl?" Rhajat asked. "Poor little Mitama is busy frittering about, rambling on with her poems about who knows what."

"Is she actually in that group?" Kiragi asked, astonished.

Rhajat nodded. "I don't know how these people cope with so much interaction with others. Other vile, uninteresting folk. I don't much care for their noisiness, so I'd rather-"

"Keep to myself," Kiragi and Rhajat said nearly at the same time. Rhajat glared right into Kiragi's soul, making him paler than he already was.

"Never again," Rhajat said disgustedly.

And as soon as she had appeared, she was gone. Shigure helped his brother off of the ground and back up to his table, when Mitama finally showed up.

"Is the gang all here/Rested and well-prepared/Here in Izumo?" Mitama said, making an unnecessary haiku, as was her habit.

Mitama almost could not have looked more different than her cousin Rhajat. While Rhajat had a dark, brooding aura about her, Mitama's seemed to be that of light and carefreeness. She had light pink hair, slightly bobbed and with two braids rolling down the side of her head, with a white bow to wrap up the back of her hair. She had wide, brown eyes with star-shaped irises, as with her father, and very petite features to her, almost like a little child, befitting her being the youngest of the family, only behind Kiragi by a few months. She wore a red dress with white colouring across the middle of the dress, with a red light-armour guard around her waist. Even now, she seemed to be nearly asleep, despite being awake and talking.

"I suppose so…" Kiragi said hesitantly.

"Wonderful," Mitama replied, peacefully but with almost an insulting tone. "I suppose it will be tomorrow that we dine in the Castle of Izumo?"

"From what I hear, that's the case," Shigure answered, with some uncertainty to it.

"Perhaps if you were not simply lazing about all day on your pegasus, you may actually know these things."

Shigure laughed. " _You_ 're the one talking about lazing around? You do nothing but sleep and write poems, while I at least help out with some of the servants."

"With you so called 'music'? I quite frankly think it's horrible."

"But you said Shigure's singing was better than mine, and you still liked mine!" Kiragi whined.

"Was that lie needed?/Perhaps if he only knew/How poorly he sings." Mitama finished with a flair to end her haiku.

Before either of the two could respond, Mitama was on her way up the stairs, likely to begin another rest that even the dead would be jealous of. Shigure knew that the next morning would be an interesting morning.


	2. Nina I

**Nina**

"Nina?" a guard called out. "Nina! Your grandfather Garon wishes for you to be present for dinner!"

Nina silently nodded. She had been hiding for a few hours at this point, hidden deep within a tree overlooking the training grounds, watching the guards. In her imagination, the third in line to the Kingdom of Nohr, Siegbert, was not simply asking for help with his fighting stance from her friend Soleil's father, Laslow. Instead, something more scandalous had begun to pique her thoughts. _How come Soleil got such a hunk of a dad when mine's just bland!_ She screamed in her head.

Her thoughts were interrupted by the rustling of the leaves as another person had joined her in the tree. Nina turned to her side and noticed that Percy had joined her in her vantage point.

"Whatcha doin' there, Nina?" Percy asked, cheerfully as ever.

Percy had a certain happy-go-lucky nature to him always. He had short, ruffled pale blue hair, wrapped around his blue-and-red hero mask. The mask had eye slits to show his wide, bubbly green eyes as well as showing his always smiling mouth. He wore a blue, red, and black shirt with steel armguards with steel boots as well, revealing his lower thighs and knees between his shorts and his boots.

"N-none of your business!" Nina shouted, feeling a blush coming on.

Percy smiled. "Your granddad was looking for you, so I thought I'd come over and tell you that!"

"How did you find me?"

"I dunno, I just...did, I guess." Percy shrugged, still smiling. He always seemed to have some of the best luck, so much so that it almost scared Nina.

"Did you find Nina?" the voice of the same guard from earlier called.

"Yep!" Percy happily exclaimed. "Now let's get you down from this tree, Nina."

"You can't make me."

Percy smiled. "Come here, Ace!" he called to no one in particular.

Nina felt a tug on her back as she began to barrel down towards the cobbled road below. Before she made impact with the ground, however, she began to almost hover above it, held in place by Percy's wyvern, Ace. Ace dropped Nina after hovering for a few seconds, causing her to land flat on her face. Almost instantaneously, she got up and was about to bolt when she felt a hard tug on her arm. She instinctively threw her open fist at her captor, before it was caught.

"Are 'ya having fun there, Nina?" Soleil joked. She let go of her grip, letting Nina fall back to the ground.

Soleil was an odd mix of femininity and masculinity. She was surprisingly strong for looking as small as she did (though she was slightly taller than Nina, her features were seldom defined), and she had a warm, reassuring face with big, brown eyes that could light up at a moment's notice. She had small ears poking up from just under her cornflower-blue hair that reached down to just below the small of her back. She wore a beige-coloured, ruffled shirt with a black vest with golden studding in it on top. At her hip was a simple iron sword that she almost always seemed to be carrying around with her.

"Why are you here too, Soleil?" Nina asked harshly.

Soleil sheepishly grinned. "My dad was being ordered around by Lord Xander about finding you, so he eventually sent me out too. Now I'm here!"

Nina slowly got up and brushed herself off, admitting defeat. "Where do they want me?"

"Right down in Castle Krakenburg," Percy cheerfully replied.

Nina began making her way down the street towards Castle Krakenburg, preparing to make a bolt for it, but she could still feel Soleil's eyes training in on her.

"I'm a grown woman, Soleil," Nina eventually shouted, annoyed.

"I know," Soleil said calmly. Then with a sudden shift in her tone, she brazenly added, "I can't let a cute girl such as yourself get out of my sights that easily."

Nina sighed in a mix of disgust, horror, and plain-out confusion. Soleil, much like her father, was always trying to be a full-blown womanizer, which lead Nina to imagine that her father acted similarly towards men as Soleil towards women.

After some time, Nina finally managed to make it all the way into the grand Castle Krackenburg. It was a well-protected fortress, surrounded by an artificial mountain of marble bricks. It almost seemed to transition into night as she entered the castle complex, as the mountain dome was high enough to block out the sun throughout the majority of the day, though at times the area would be lit. She was travelling on one of the many walkways that spanned over a seemingly endless expanse, where falling may have spelled certain death. Nina noticed that despite how late in the day it was getting, there were still guards training at some of the training grounds that were at the ends of more of the walkways.

"Hey Nina," Soleil said, still walking with Nina, "if someone were to fall down one of these, then how do they get back up?"

"I'm not sure," Nina said, still focusing her eyes on the castle ahead. "I think they just hit the ground and die."

"But what if someone like you were to fall? A royal, I mean. King Garon has to save his own kin, right?"

Nina fell silent, and subconsciously slowed her pace. Her mother had told her about it, how when she was young, Garon had many mistresses, and they fought amongst each other in order to prove that they were the best of the mistresses. Those fights weren't merely wars of wits, but real wars. The different mistresses would have their children fight one another, and only the strongest survived. Only Xander was a child of Garon's wife, while the rest of Nina's aunt Elise and Uncle Leo, as well as her own mother, were children of concubines.

"D-did I touch on something I wasn't supposed to?" Soleil asked, worry dripping from her voice.

"It's fine," Nina shot back dismissively. She sped on her way to make it to the castle as quick as possible, leaving Soleil behind.

"...so it is imperative that you keep good behavior with the king of Izumo," King Garon was saying as Nina walked in. Several of the people in attendance at the court shot quick glances at her before hastily turning their attention back to the imposing king.

Garon was a very intimidating man. While he was not as tall as his son Xander, Garon still towered over many of the lesser people in court. He wore thick, night-black armour, with a black fur cape with a white fur collar around his neck, as well as a black jagged crown. His face was ominous, always frowning, with deep wrinkles to mark his age. Despite the wrinkles, many of the other features on his face were marked with a same intensity that many of Nina's friends and acquaintances, despite him being well into his seventies whilst Nina was only eighteen. He had white hair that reached from his crown to the edge of his collar and down to his neck, simply pulled back, and a white beard that reached across his jaw just below his mouth and reached down to around his sternum when he sat, though the beard had a pointed strip of black jutting from his chin.

"Why does Izana wish to meet with us?" a voice asked, unfamiliar to Nina.

"I do not know," Garon responded, "but what I do know is that we will need to gain his trust before we can use his castle as a foothold into Hoshido. The Hoshidans must perish, and Izumo will be the first to fall."

Several voices began to cheer, but Nina noticed several of the attendees solemnly look down, silently disagreeing with their King's notion, though not openly rejecting it on fear of death.

"My King," the serpent-like voice of Iago, Garon's right hand advisor eventually spoke. "I do not think that you personally should trouble yourself with meeting with this buffoonish King Izana. Send out Prince Xander to meet with him."

"I shall send all of my children, with their families. You as well, Corrin."

"Very well," Leo's voice rose.

"Now then, prepare yourselves to leave for Izumo. Now leave my presence."

As Nina began to walk away, the cheerful voice of her cousin Sophie shouted up.

"Heya Nina!" she said ecstatically. "Didja get all of that? I know you came in late but-"

"Yes," Nina interrupted. "I know we're heading to Izumo, for some parley with King Izana. No one knows why, but Garon wants us to go."

"I know! It's so exciting!" Sophie said once more.

Sophie gave out a smile that seemed to brighten the oftentimes dark Castle Krackenburg. She had her hair arranged in a bob, in a silver-white colour. She had big, eager eyes in a slate-grey shade, with a certain fire behind them. She wore a set of dark grey armour, much lighter than that of King Garon's, and it was well-suited for having to ride her horse, whom she was rarely without when not being forced to stay with the royal family. She was the daughter of Corrin, who was not blood-related to Nina or any of the rest of the royal family, but was adopted many, many years ago by Garon after being abandoned in the streets by her Hoshidan family.

"Except for the fact that Granddad seemed very eager to get the entirety of the royal family out of Nohr and without him with," Nina observed.

Sophie had a cross look to her face for a moment, before quickly smiling and responding with, "Maybe he's finally getting old? Maybe Uncle Xander will be King Xander soon!"

Nina hushed Sophie down. Sophie looked puzzled for several seconds before eventually realizing what she did and giving an embarrassed look. It was taboo to say anything about the prospect of King Garon dying. There had been many Nohrian nobles that had made jokes about that, only to either mysteriously vanish or be outright executed. While Sophie remained blissfully unaware of the torture that Nina's mother had gone through however many years prior, Nina herself knew that Garon was willing to let his own family die in order to keep face.

"Alright, Sophie," Nina began shortly after leaving the expanse of Castle Krackenburg, "Go get Avel, and remember to pack your stuff before we leave. And especially remember, _don't question anything about this trip_." Sophie cheerfully nodded and began to sprint off, leaving Nina behind, only to sigh and wonder what the purpose behind this trip, as well as Garon's abstaining, was.

The royals had arrived in Izumo, all exhausted from the weeks-long trip. Nina herself had been sleeping almost the entire journey, which was mostly taken by sea, yet she still was tired as well. The parents had all been off the ship for some time, presumably to let the royal children rest some time longer, but now they were all awake and waiting on the deck for instructions to where they were staying. Nina was the last one to reach the deck, and began to scan the area, still rubbing sleep out of her eyes. Sophie was already mounted onto Avel, her horse, and looked ready and raring to go towards wherever it was that they were staying at or even straight into or through Izumo Castle. Forrest stood next to her, marvelling in the scenery of the city, as well as in some of the odd fashions of the Izumite people. On Forrest's horse rested Velouria, her red hood covering the top of her head as well as the non-human ears. Kana stood next, his eyes filled with wonder at the new location. To end off the line was Siegbert, glaring intently at Nina, likely for her tardiness.

"Does anyone know when we're getting off this ship?" Nina asked, yawning.

"Maybe sooner if _someone_ hadn't overslept," Siegbert said, sarcasm dripping from his voice.

Siegbert was ideal for a king; tall, strong, kind, and knowing what's best for the good of everyone, and he was fitting for being the third in line for the throne of Nohr. He had blond hair, arrange unkempt, but in a way that seemed clean, reaching just below his jaw behind his head. He had stern, burgundy-tinted eyes, as well as a aquiline nose, a stern, perpetually-frowning mouth, and shockingly small ears that were untouched by his hair. Like many Nohrians, he too wore black armour, with a magenta scarf and cape wrapped around his neck and let to flow. On his left arm, there was a larger pauldron covering his shoulder with an ornate golden eagle design. He was surprisingly tall, standing almost an entire head taller than Nina, who was by no means small, and seemed to still be growing.

"Velouria's still sleeping, though…" Nina responded snarkily.

"And she stole my horse!" Forrest whined.

Forrest was effeminate for a man, so much so that many people upon first seeing him assume that he is a woman. He had long, braided black hair, covered by a floppy pink hat with a tan trimming and a ruby plastered in the middle of it. His features were very feminine, with long eyelashes and a small nose and mouth and ears. He wore a frilly pink shirt with beige trousers, as well as brown leather boots and gloves.

"Yeah...sorry about that," Velouria muttered, mostly asleep.

Out of the entirety of the odd characters that ran within the royal family, Velouria seemed to be the most normal, despite her being only half-human. She had a blank, expressionless face, with sleepy red eyes and long, fur-coated ears from her also being half-wolfskin. She wore a red, hooded cape covering over her light grey blouse and trousers. Her hair stuck out from underneath her hood, mostly a whitish-grey, though with a single stripe of tan right above her right eye. The tips of her hair rested gently on the front of her shoulders, unfettered by any movement she would have. In her left hand, though hidden underneath her cowl, Nina knew that she was holding onto the stone that would permit her transformation into her wolfskin form.

"You're fine, Velouria!" Forrest responded apologetically.

Velouria promptly fell back asleep after acknowledging Forrest's apology. Almost immediately afterwards, a masked Izumite boarded the ship.

"You folks the royal family of Nohr?" the Izumite asked slightly flambouyantly.

"That we are!" Kana shouted.

Kana was the youngest out of everyone in the royal family by an entire five years younger than his sister, Sophie. He was distinctly shorter than any of the rest of the family, with the closest being Velouria who still stood nearly a head above Kana. He had hair in a slate grey colour, spiked up wildly all around his head, with a few strands draping over his ears on either side. He had wide, determined grey eyes and a consistently confident look on his face. He wore grey-and-black armour, with a large blue scarf covering over his neck. Nina knew that Kana had his own stone that allowed him to transfer into his dragon form hidden within that scarf somewhere.

"Then I'll show you straight to the castle," the Izumite continued, slightly more energetically from Kana's outburst.

The royals followed the Izumite, Velouria still mostly asleep. As they passed through the castle town, Nina noted all the happy faces of the Izumite people. Izumo itself was independent of either Nohr or Hoshido, and always remained neutral. _This must be what it feels like to have a good king, good land, and no threat of war,_ Nina thought to herself, remembering all the solemn faces of the Nohrian citizens. At several points in their trek to Izumo castle, peddlers came and went, trying to sell cheap antiques or expensive 'tourist commodities' to the royal family, seemingly knowing that they were the Nohrian royals.

They arrived at the castle and were greeted by a second, much larger Izumite. "Lord Izana is currently convening with the Nohrian royal family," he said, his voice deeper and more menacing than that of the first one Izumite. "You are the children of the Nohrian royal family, I assume?"

"Yes, that we are," Siegbert said, taking charge of the royal clan.

"Very well," the Izumite responded. "I shall show you to your quarters while you are our guests here in our fine principality."

The guard led the royal family to a grand banquet hall, with several servants bustling about, attempting to clean dishes and prepare for lunch.

"Your family quarters are on the room to the left," the Izumite continued. "I do hope you enjoy your stay."

Sophie and Kana began to nearly sprint to the quarters assigned to them by the Izumite, with Forrest timidly following suit. Nina and Siegbert looked at each other with slight disappointment in their family, before waking Velouria up and heading to the room themselves. The room was absurdly extravagant, with ornate silver lighting and white cloth draped everywhere. There were eight beds, all easily large enough to hold three people, all with white sheets and blankets covering. Sophie was on one of them, rolling around and revelling in how soft the beds were. Nina began to turn to look at Velouria, but then noticed that Velouria was already out sleeping on one of the beds.

"Nina," Siegbert said after a while. Siegbert seemed to talk to Nina more so than any of the other cousins, save for Velouria when she was awake.

"Yeah?" Nina said, slightly stunned by his still stoic-demeanor.

"The Izumite mentioned specifically to go to the room on the left. Obviously that means there's a room on the right, probably the same as this one. That means there's probably someone else in the room on the right, but who?"  
Nina paused to think about that, but before she could give an answer, a skinny man dressed in all white and with a mask on barged into the room.

"Lunch is now prepared for the Royal Family of Nohr!" he shouted, his voice vastly deeper than his appearance would suggest.

The siblings all got up and began making their way to the hall, but Siegbert again stopped Nina. "That's another thing," Siegbert continued. "They keep specifying 'of Nohr'."  
"Does that mean that Hoshido is also here?" Nina suggested.

Siegbert shrugged and made his way to the banquet hall, where some of their worst fears were met. On the opposite side of the table, another five people, all around their age, stood.

"W-who are you?" the tall boy with pale lavender hair asked, shouting.

"I could ask the same of you!" Siegbert said, his voice wavering.

"Hey! We asked first!" the much smaller boy with a small ponytail retorted.

"Well we're asking you now!" Forrest snapped back.

"Can we please not be so loud?" a young-looking girl with pink hair sleepily said. "I do so wish to have a nice, calm lunch."

"Same," Velouria agreed in the same sleepy manner.

"We never asked you, Wolfskin," a creepy girl with crimson hair hissed.

A fire came to Velouria's eyes, intent on murder.

"Please, please," the third boy said. "Let us all accept Izumo's hospitality. First, introductions. I am Shigure."

Shigure seemed different from the rest of this other group. He was tall, like the first boy, but seemed very refined. He had sky-blue hair, spiked all around, wild and unkempt. His armour was white, with blue trimmings all around. He had a calm face, and seemed to have an air of elegance to him, flanked by warm, golden eyes. Nina noticed her heart run aflutter.

"I am Siegbert, Crown Prince to the Crown Prince of Nohr," Siegbert continued with a certain pride to him.

"Fine. The name's Shiro, son of King Ryoma of Hoshido!" the lavender-haired one spoke.

"Forrest, at your service," Forrest quietly said.

"My little cousin here's Kiragi," Shiro said, patting the ponytailed one on the head. "Our sleepy gal here is Mitama, and the last one here is Rhajat."

"My little cousin here is Velouria, this here's Kana, Sophie," Siegbert continued, each cousin identifying themselves.

"My name's Nina!" Nina interrupted.

Shiro gave an odd look at Nina, and shrugged. He then sat down, with his entire family following suit. Siegbert then motioned to his own cousins to sit down as well.

"Why do you think Izana invited both families at the same time?" Siegbert whispered to Nina as he sat down.

Nina ignored him, still staring directly at Shigure and delving deep into her world of fantasies.


	3. Midori I

**Midori**

Midori hummed her way into the city at the base of Castle Shirasagi, her pack on her back and ready to sell some of her homemade potions. She always marvelled at the city, despite her father working within the Castle. Midori herself often stayed at the farm over two kilometres from the city with her mother, where the two farmed both food and herbs for Midori's potions.

"You're back again?" Asugi said as Midori passed by an alley.

Midori jumped in shock from the ninja sneaking up on her. Asugi was shockingly sneaky, despite always looking so relaxed. He had shaggy brown hair, with a black headband underneath his hair. He had a relaxed look on his face, with calm grey eyes, and a lollipop stuck in his mouth. He wore a grey kosode with a black scarf resting on his neck. He had black gauntlets with blades on them. At one hip was a blade, and at the other a bag of sweets. Midori never knew how to feel about Asugi, even considering the fact that the two were cousins and that Asugi was three years older than her.

"I need to make my money somehow," Midori responded after composing herself.

"I suppose," Asugi said almost emotionlessly. "You _could_ just steal the money, I suppose…"

Midori responded by slapping Asugi straight across his face. "I won't do any such thing like that! And you shouldn't either, because your father is a retainer to Ryoma!"

"I'm not my father!" Asugi shouted back.

"Calm down, Asugi," the voice of Caeldori said.

Caeldori was one of those types of people that seem to be perfect at everything and have everything going for them. She had soft, maroon -coloured eyes with long, cobalt-blue hair reaching all the way down to her hips. Atop her head was a white headband with wing patterns tapering off around her petite ears that were partially hidden by her hair, befitting a pegasus knight. Her armour was white with red outlinings, with white sleeves that cut off around the elbow. Covering above her elbows on the outside were red, layered pauldrons that still exposed the insides of her upper arm. In right hand she held a long naginata, which she was also leaning against.

"Why do you show up literally everywhere that I go?" Asugi said bitterly.

"Because for a ninja, you're shockingly loud," Caeldori snapped back. She then had noticed Midori, saying, "Well hello there, Midori. In town to do some selling?"  
"Yep!" Midori cheerfully replied.

"Do you by any chance have a potion to cure hay fever?"

"Sure, why?" Midori began to rummage through her bag. "You're not sick, are you?"

Caeldori laughed. "Not me, Midori," she said between laughs. "Ayleito. He just can't be alone without Shigure. Every time, he gets sick some way or another. It almost worries me how much he does."

"You afraid of some...less-than-upright actions from Prince Shigure?" Asugi said with a teasing tone in his voice.

"S-shut up, Asugi!" Caeldori blurted out, a sudden redness flushing her face.

Asugi laughed, and Midori could not help herself laughing alongside Asugi. In an instant, however, Asugi's laughing subsided, and when Midori looked up, she saw Caeldori's naginata right up against the ninja's chest.

"This conversation _never_ happened, got it?" Caeldori said, still embarrassed.

Asugi nodded and motioned for Midori to give Caeldori the remedy, which she did. Caeldori then left without another word.

"Sheesh," Asugi sighed. "She's...quite the character, isn't she?"

Midori let out a light chuckle before continuing on her way to her stall.

Sun was beginning to set, and Midori was counting up the gold that she had earned from a hard day's work of selling potions. Her father had likely returned to the farm some time earlier to help out her mother, so Midori knew that she did not need to necessarily hurry back home. As she was leaving her stall, she suddenly was thrown to the ground.

"Heya Midori!" Selkie's voice said ecstatically.

Midori looked up to see the kitsune, firmly planted and keeping her on the ground. Selkie was smiling in a wide grin, revealing a number of small but sharp fangs. Her eyes were big and golden, always ready to be playing. Her hair was a light blond, with a stripe of darker brunette right above her left eye. On the top of her head were two large fox ears, same colour as her hair with a white, fluffy lining inside, making her almost look like an old man with her ears. Where a normal human's ears would be, Selkie still had two earrings connected to her hair, with a golden brooch and blue tassels underneath. Her clothing was white, with a red overcoat, though those both stopped in the middle of her thigh. From a small indentation in the small of her back, Selkie had a large, golden fox tail wagging about in excitement over seeing her friend.

"Hey, Selkie," Midori said, gasping for breath.

"How are ya?" Selkie asked, oblivious to the discomfort she was causing Midori.  
"Good, I guess?"

Selkie either finally realized the pain she was causing Midori or simply wanted to move, as she finally stood up. "You on your way back to the farm?" Selkie then said, not willing to help Midori up.

"Yep, just finished a day of selling some potions."

"Yay! That sounds super fun!" Selkie gave another smile. "My papa just found a new home not to far from your farm, so I think I'll follow you back!" Midori felt herself go pale. "Fine," Selkie sighed. "I won't eat any of the crops you guys are growing...probably." Midori glared at Selkie, who then quickly changed her story from a 'probably' to a 'definitely'.

As the two began leaving the cityscape, they were stopped by another familiar friend. "Where are you two going?" Hisame said, standing in the middle of the gateway.

Midori never liked Hisame, as he was always far too serious and stubborn. He had long, white hair, with his bangs swept to the right. He had a nearly expressionless face, despite his rather effeminate features, such as his slanted eyes with shocking large eyebrows and a small nose. He wore the traditional armour of a Hoshidan military man, with a white tunic covered by black-and-blue armour.

"Home?" Midori asked, stunned by Hisame's obvious question.

"Then why is Selkie with you?"

"'Cuz I'm moving out by my pal, Midori!" Selkie cheerfully replied. Hisame gave an odd look at Selkie.

All of a sudden, Midori pushed aside Hisame, declaring, "We're leaving and you can't stop us!"

As the two began walking away, Midori heard Hisame say to himself, "You don't have to make such a big dill about it." Midori rightfully groaned at Hisame's pickle pun, due to his obsession with pickles.

As the two were heading down the road, Selkie eventually asked Midori a question. "You know how the royal family is out by Izumo?" she asked.

"Yeah, why?" Midori answered, wondering where Selkie was going with it.

"Why didn't they bring any of their retainers? Isn't their job to protect the royal family?"

Midori was not aware that none of the retainers had gone along. Midori's mother was just a farmer, and her father, while a ninja in service to the crown, was a retainer to no one.

"Is your mother still here?"

"Yeah," Selkie replied, suddenly sullen. Midori noticed the change in tone and asked what was wrong. "I heard from a friend of mine that the Nohrian royal family was also heading out to Izumo without any of their retainers."

Midori felt her heart suddenly drop. Something was wrong, and Midori knew it. Nohr and Hoshido had large amounts of tension between the two, and something like this could spark a huge war. If a war _were_ to break out, while the thrifty side of Midori knew that she could gain so much more money from selling easy-to-make healing vulneraries, but the moral side of her knew that war would mean that so many people would have to go to war, with Midori likely included in the number. So many of Midori's friends would have to go to war; Selkie, Asugi, and Caeldori, as well as people she was still acquainted with, such as Hisame, and also the royal family, Shiro, Kiragi, Shigure, Mitama, and Rhajat. A war would put so many of Midori's friends and acquaintances at risk of death from the evil Nohrians.

"You alright?" Selkie asked after a bit. Midori had not even realized that she had stopped in thought. Selkie was several metres ahead of her, and had a rare distressed look on her face.

"I'm fine," Midori quickly answered, snapping out of her thoughts. Despite this, Midori knew that she would get little sleep that night, due to wondering what would happen should war break out.


	4. Soleil I

**Soleil**

Soleil was sitting at her guardpost just outside of Windmire, the capital of Nohr. She had been punished by having to stay on the outer perimeter, where bandits were more likely to roam, as a result of her (once again) flirting with some of the other women within the military. Soleil never could help it, she had taken after her father wonderfully in terms of personality, showing a willingness to flirt with any women that she found particularly attractive, though she rarely did anything more than playful flirting. Still, she now was lonely in the cold, dark guardpost. She was going to be sent towards a forwards outpost on the outskirts of the Bottomless Canyon, the easiest way to cross from Nohr into Hoshido and vice-versa, save for by sea through the port town of Dia.

"Back here again, eh?" Clover's voice rose.

Soleil spun around quickly to see her good friend Clover. While many girls who were not affected by Soleil's flirting seemed to look on her with disdain, Clover was different. She seemed to accept it. Clover was surprisingly small, only reaching just about Soleil's chest, but she was shockingly strong. Clover had large, grey eyes, hiding a fire of desire deep within them. Her hair was long and reached halfway through her back in a spring green shade. She wore plate armour, black with red trimmings, all around sans a helmet and held a steel sword on a sheath on her left hip. Similarly to Soleil, she seemed to always wear a smile, no matter how tough the situation was going.

"Yeah," Soleil sighed. "I seem to get sent here every day."

"I just live here, so it isn't a punishment," Clover joked, though there was a truth to the fact that she did live near the outpost. "I also heard about your reassignment to the Bottomless Canyon."

"Why is he sending me there?" Soleil whined.

Clover huddled in closer to whisper. "Garon has a plan in motion right now. The royal families of both Nohr and Hoshido are present in Izumo, supposedly with Izana, the Archduke. In reality, Izana isn't the one dining there, it's Zola!"

Soleil stepped back and noticed a wicked grin on Clover's face. Soleil knew what that look meant. Clover only did that when she knew that conflict was ready to begin happening. If Zola was feigning like he was the Archduke, at Garon's behest, then likely war would begin breaking out.

"Why is _our_ royal family there, though?" Soleil asked.

"Keep with the supposed plan, like trying to keep peace between the two nations. Plus, once the Hoshidans are captured, our glorious crown prince Xander can execute the fools! They won't stand a chance!"

Soleil smiled. It had been a while since she had gotten in a fight, and she honestly did miss it. "Who else is coming to the Bottomless Canyon? I can't be the only one."

Clover paused for a moment, likely trying to remember all who would be coming. "Percy is following Commander Aure of the Wyvern Knights, Dwyer is coming as a healer, Ophelia's tagging along, and Ignatius is being put in charge of his own regiment!"

"Really?" Soleil asked. Ignatius was barely older than Soleil, at only eighteen. To see him put in charge of a regiment was astounding.

"Yup! General Axel sees some potential in him. Anyways, Axel actually sent me out to retrieve you, because we're heading to the Bottomless Canyon right now."

Soleil was shocked. She was told that she would not be moved for another full week, but she was ready nonetheless and headed out, following Clover to the frontline of war.

It had taken a full week to go from the original guard post that Soleil was at to get to the Bottomless Canyon outpost, which was already well lived-in. They stood opposite to a Hoshidan outpost on the other side of the canyon, overlooking it. Soleil was sitting on a bluff overlooking the canyon, about five-hundred metres away, observing the Hoshidans. They were surprisingly well-armed, and there were a lot more than the Nohrians were expecting.

"Why is it that my trusted ally Soleil stares into the void of death?" Ophelia asked, her loquaciousness apparent.

If there was a single word to describe Ophelia, it would be dramatic. Ophelia was exceedingly eccentric when it same to speaking, and she seemed to make up extravagant names for her spells, which she was both good at casting and making it dramatic. She had long, messy red hair, reaching down to her shoulders, with a yellow headband around the crown of her head. Her eyes were large and grey, with a certain innocent look to them at times. Her eyes and ears were small, which added to her cuteness that Soleil adored so much. Ophelia wore surprisingly little, with only a yellow cape, and black- and-yellow underclothes, revealing a lot of skin.

"Heya Ophelia!" Soleil asked, her day brightened by Ophelia's appearance. "Just...wondering why there are so many Hoshidans. I thought that this was supposed to be a surprise invasion, but they seem prepared."

Ophelia shrugged. "Such are the whims of fate. A divine wind must have brought the news of our invasion to them."

"Or something went horribly wrong," Dwyer's voice sullenly added.

Dwyer was a strange person. He was heavily pressured by his father to be a great butler and fighting, though he seemed to shrink under the weight of his teachings, remaining out of conflict and sticking to the back, supporting others. He was generally a sullen person, with long, messy blonde hair that had multiple streaks running across his face, as well as small, sunken black eyes. He had large bags under his eyes, as he seemed to sleep very little, and an almost constantly worried appearance on his face. His clothing was all black, with large, accentuated shoulder on his tunic. Despite his natural aptitude for just about everything, he seemed far too lazy to actually do anything with it, preferring to slack off and not want to do anything.

"Why must you always be one to bring darkness to an otherwise light day?" Ophelia asked, keeping up her dramatic personage.

"I'm a realistic person," Dwyer replied sleepily. "What likely happened is that Zola screwed up, or Princess Corrin was too honour-bound to let the Hoshidans die so weakly. Then, the Hoshidan royals inform other Hoshidans, and soon we'll have a battle."

"Or it might be a coinkydink that there are extra Hoshidans here," Clover added in seemingly obliviously, appearing out of nowhere.

"I wouldn't trust it," Ignatius added, joining into the group.

Ignatius was a very intimidating-looking person. He easily stood over the rest of the group, and he may have even been taller than Prince Xander, despite being so much younger. He had long, white hair that curled off into bangs, with one swooping across his nose from the middle of his forehead. His eyes were determined and a dark, greyish- green colour. His face had a stark demeanor to it, adding to his apparent stoicism, though deep down he was a very kind person. He wore very thick, two-and-a-half millimetre-thick, grey plate armour with no special trimmings of note, adding to his gloomy appearance.

"You really think something happened?" Clover asked. "Well if a captain of a regiment says so, who am I to deny it?"  
"You're a trusted officer, that's who!" Percy's voice rang out, bringing an energy to the grim atmosphere of the area. "You may not be a high-ranking general or commander or captain, but your voice is still heard, Clover!"

Clover smiled and hugged the small child. Soleil had finally realized the huge difference in height between the two of them. Percy was only a one-and-a-half metres tall, and Clover could easily rest her chin on the top of his head. Percy was one of the youngest soldiers in the military, only twelve years old, the same age as Princess Corrin's child, Kana, though Percy was slightly older than Kana, if only by a few months. Soleil began to worry, however. A war was definitely brewing, and to see a small child such as Percy have to go to war and possibly risk his life brought began to make Soleil succumb to the gloomy air that had come around her.

"What is wrong, my fellow fighter of the evil ones in the darkness?" Ophelia asked Soleil as the other four began joking around.

"What is the purpose of this war?" Soleil said, feeling strangely about not having her perpetually-upbeat nature. "King Garon is just sending people off to die, for no reason!"

"We cannot ask why the darkness covers the light, though we cannot change it. Perhaps there is a valid reason behind the forthcoming clouds of war, though there is nothing that we can do to stop it. There will always be troubles in our lives that we can only ask 'Why?' to, but nonetheless we cannot change anything, and we must follow the path that fate has laid out for us. We may not agree with what is in our path, but we are but mere mortals in the face of a cosmic power, such as fate, and thusly, we cannot stop what comes. Fate will have its fickle way with us, but we will not bend to its will!"

"So we're powerless to do anything against fate?"

Ophelia delivered a hard slap to Soleil, straight across the cheek. "Perhaps I should have been more clear: Our destination has been laid out for us, but we will fight for the best journey to our final destination! I, Ophelia Dusk, will not easily bend to the whims of fate! Nay, I will hold back the tide of fate until I am satisfied!"

Soleil brightened up, and noticed a certain relief come across Ophelia's face. Soleil then smiled and, laughing, said, "You're so cute when you ramble on like that."

Ophelia's face turned a brighter red than her own hair and she covered her face behind her hands. Soleil and Clover shared a laugh, oblivious to the conflict that would beset them in a few short hours.


	5. Shiro I

**Shiro**

Shiro stared down his opposite, Prince Siegbert. Siegbert stood slightly taller than Shiro, who had towered over many of the common folk who lived within the Hoshidan borders. Shigure was among his height, but Shiro still stood just a few centimetres taller than his cousin. Aside from his own father, Shiro had never seen anyone taller than himself who was still easily movable. Yet here Siegbert stood, taller than Shiro, and seemingly unaware of it.

"What is the matter, Hoshidan Prince?" Siegbert asked in a bland voice.

Shiro felt like the Nohrian had been taunting him and was about to rise out of his seat with an intense fire in his soul, but Shigure stopped him.

"Shiro," Shigure calmly said. "Do not make a scene. We are here in the good graces of Izumo in order to arrange a long-lasting peace with the Nohrian people."

As soon as the words left Shigure's mouth, the lavish lunch was interrupted by what seemed like a small army bursting through the door. The majority of the intruders had their weapons drawn, though there were a few whose weapons remained sheathed. At their head was an imposing man, whose height brought Shiro down even further. The man was an absolute giant, having to crouch in order to enter the hall. He wore a simple chainmail shirt with no sleeves, and chainmail to cover up his legs. In his right hand, a large, double-headed axe was slung across his shoulders. His eyes were black and empty, and three large gashes were dug into his right cheek. He wore a chainmail helmet, covering up much of his brown hair.

"Princes and Princesses of Hoshido!" the man yelled in a deep voice. "Surrender now and we shall kill you quickly!"

"Izumo is a place of non-violence!" the Nohrian known as Forrest spoke up.

"Fear not, Prince Forrest!" the man continued. "I shall eradicate these blood-sucking, parasitic Hoshidans, or my name isn't Erzatz the Butcher!"

"Why are you doing this, Erzatz?" Siegbert said, a calmness still in his voice.

"You have not heard? King Garon, in the flesh, told me to come here with Zola and exterminate the Hoshidans! That is why we are here!"

"Would Izana-" Forrest began, before being interrupted by Erzatz continuing.

"Izana? That old archduke is rotting in the very dungeons that he rules! Zola is a perfect imitator!"

"Then why are we, the _Nohrian_ royals, here?" Velouria asked, raising a very fair point.

"It is simply to keep up the faḉade that this is a meeting of peace," Erzatz explained, his voice making an obvious change to a calmer and meeker voice. "Plus you can see firsthand the beginning of the end of the Hoshidan Empire!"

As Erzatz finished speaking, he suddenly cut his breath off, and Shiro then realized that one of the Nohrians had turned on his commander and had pierced his gut with a spear. The Nohrian army turned on itself, with one of them begging the Hoshidans to flee, which they then did.

Sprinting out of the castle, Shiro had met up with his parents and aunts and uncles, where they all continued to make their way outside of the city, unfazed by the destruction that was going on around them. As they approached the gates, Shiro, who was leading the back, tripped and, looking up, saw Nina.

Nina was a girl that, if Shiro had not been placed in the situation that he now was in, would seriously consider as a potential queen, though she was a Nohrian Princess, and it seemed as though war had just begun. She was tall for a girl, though Shiro's chin still was just around her forehead. Her eyes were wide and an emerald-green tinted, resting just above a petite nose and mouth that was curled into a frown. Her hair was a lavender colour, and arranged in two thin braids on either side of her head that arced in a crescent shape, reaching around her hips. Her clothing was a low-cut grey dress, ending about midway through her thighs, with black leggings underneath and a short, red cape that only covered her shoulders and reached to around her shoulder blades.

"N-Nina?" Shiro stammered, watching as his family was fleeing through the gates. "What's the meaning of this?"

"I don't know," Nina responded, a tear coming to her left eye. "I swear, when I see my grandfather next, I'll demand answers! Now go!"

Shiro struggled to get up, though he eventually did, and blew past Nina. As he exited the gates, he could hear Nina begging to some Nohrian soldiers to spare some innocent lives, though Shiro was too far away to hear the soldier's response. He eventually caught up to his family around five miles from Izumo, camping nearby a stream.

"Where were you?" his father, Ryoma, asked, worry dripping in his voice.

Shiro's father was a tall man, standing easily taller than Siegbert had over Shiro. His hair was wild and spiky, flowing into a mane that reached to midway through his back. Despite his obvious worry, an air of sternness still was washed over his face, as if disappointed. He wore a full ō-yoroi, tinted in a crimson red, with a flowing white long coat draped over the ō-yoroi. At his hip was the white sheath of the legendary electric katana, Raijinto.

"I had tripped in Izumo, but I'm safe, right?" Shiro joked, trying to keep the mood light.

"That is not something you should joke about," Azura sternly scolded.

"It's done," Rhajat ominously said, directing her words at Ryoma. "I've warned Yukimura. He's sending soldiers to the Bottomless Canyon."

"Well, we'd best be on our ways there as well," Shiro's mother, Orochi, said with a smile on her face.

Mother was a retainer of Shiro's late grandmother, Mikoto, who had died while Shiro was still very young. Mother had her pale lavender hair arranged in a large bun with a golden hairclip keeping it in place. Her mischievous, purple eyes were complimented by an always-mischievous smile plastered on her face. Her clothing was very simple, a white top that exposed her entire midriff, with pointless sleeves beginning at the elbows and tapering off into large, disc-like bracelets, with dark purple pants with several openings in diamond shapes through the front of her legs, beginning at around the knees.

"Gladly," Shiro's uncle, Azama, responded in a deadpan matter. "I should love to throw my life away in the middle of nowhere rather than live my life to the fullest."

Azama's sarcasm was not lost on Shiro's mother, who gave him a death glare. Azama visibly reacted to it, though many people would not know how he did, due to his eyes always seeming as if they are at rest, serene and closed. His eyes contrasted his hair, which was brown and wild, looking as if his head was alight with a chestnut-brown fire. His clothing matched his face's serenity, with a simple black hakama, covered by a beige overcoat.

"Do you always have to be so _sour_ , Azama?" Sakura responded.

Sakura was Azama's wife, and Ryoma's sister. Sakura had an innocent look to her, with calm brown eyes, and relatively short pink hair, with several strands reaching in front of her to rest on her chest, just around the collarbone. She wore a kimono with a white top that shifted to a medium red at her waist. A white headband with a golden flower at its end rested atop her head.

"My apologies, dear," Azama responded, a hint of sarcasm still present.

"I think I have to agree with Orochi," Takumi said, a determination very present in both his eyes and in his voice.

A small clamour rose amongst the group, before Ryoma eventually took charge and announced, "No,"

"Why not?" Azura asked.

"Because we need to take advantage of this situation. Nohr is currently trapped within the walls of Izumo. I can quickly muster an army and lay siege to the city. We also need to free the members of our family. Shigure and Mitama are still in the city. We won't let any of our family perish in this way! We march to Izumo!"

Many of the royals cheered, and they all set off on their way to retaliate in a war that they never wished had happened.


	6. Caeldori I

**Caeldori**

Caeldori had arrived at the Bottomless Canyon outpost several hours before the other pegasus knights, though the rest had come since. Caeldori had already taken stock of what the fortress had and had a brief survey of the Nohrian army planted across the Canyon. The Nohrians outnumbered the Hoshidans by a fair margin, but Caeldori still trusted in her army's strength. The battle was soon to commence soon.

Caeldori had never been as nervous in her life as she had been at that very moment. In a matter of hours, many of her friends-in-arms were likely going to be dead, and the families of so many people, Hoshidan and Nohrian, would be forever changed at the hands of people like Caeldori. The thought of Caeldori herself falling had never crossed her mind for even a moment.

"Are you nervous at all?" the voice of Caeldori's father, Subaki asked.

While many people saw Caeldori as the perfect person, Caeldori was just a shadow in the light of her father. Subaki was better than Caeldori in every way. He had a streamlined face, with soft maroon eyes, matching the colour of his hair. His hair was long, arranged in a ponytail behind his head, but with several strands looping around his ears and being sideswept, with three streaks running across his face, with one being disconnected across his face, right across the nose. A small bit of hair was stood up at the peak of his head, where it zigzagged off to his left. His armour was light, almost like clothing, white-and-blue, with thin black-and-gold pauldrons covering his shoulders. In his own right hand, he had a similar naginata to that of Caeldori's, though his was far more ornate in appearance.

"I cannot afford to be nervous, Father," Caeldori responded, a smile on her face.

As Caeldori turned to face her father, she was expecting a similar smile, but was met with a determined, no-nonsense visage. "We all can afford to be nervous, Caeldori," Father said, slightly solemnly. "We are going to war. People we know and love can and might be taken away from us at a moment's notice. I would be worried if you weren't nervous, as that means that you have nothing to lose. On the contrary, we could lose everything here tonight. You need to fight to protect that which you hold dear. But you cannot let the worry of loss overcome you. You need to fight through it, get through the moment and protect what you fear losing. Turn your worry into determination and fight for what you love!"

Caeldori felt a tear come to her eye. She had blatantly lied to her father, and his response was what Caeldori expected. Despite that fact, Caeldori faced the hard truth and wondered how she would overcome it. In a matter of moments, she broke down into tears in the fort's armoury, with her father comforting her.

"I won't let anyone hurt you, Caeldori," Father continued, calm in his voice. "If you get so much as a scratch on your pretty little face, I _will_ take down all of Nohr by myself if need be."

Father wiped a tear off of Caeldori's face, before the two of them were shocked by the sound of the alarm. The two quickly got up and grabbed their naginatas before rushing to the pegasus stable. By the time they arrive, most of the pegasus knights had already left, but standing in front of Caeldori's pegasus was her mother, Oboro.

"Come on you two!" she yelled.

Though she was now dressed in her armour, on most days, both Caeldori and her mother would be dressed in elegant, hand-made kimonos. Mother had a determined look on her face, with her usually- sleepy eyes now being twisted into a determined gaze, and her usual cocky smirk was gone, replaced by a straight face. Mother had long, cobalt-blue hair, same as Caeldori, that was arranged into a ponytail reaching down to the middle of her back. Her small ears were entirely covered by her hair as she seemingly did not have enough time to fully prepare it. Her armour was a simple chest guard with an orange battle- readied kimono underneath.

Caeldori and her father both mounted their pegasi, with Caeldori's mother hopping on with Father, and they began to fly out of the opening in the canyon that the pegasus stable was situated in. As they flew high above the battle, they realized how chaotic it was. The Nohrians had already gotten past the bridge, and a hodgepodge of soldiers were intermixed on the Hoshidan side of the Canyon.

"Time to move in!" Father shouted, though Caeldori could still barely hear it over the sound of the battle below.

The two pegasi swooped in, and all three of the riders leapt off of their mounts and a nearly perfect time to land to get right into the conflict. Caeldori had been separated from her parents, but a challenger stood in her path. The challenger was different from most of the Nohrian soldiers. While many of the Nohrian soldiers were older men, and the less common younger ones had gaunt faces, the challenger stood tall and seemed to be enjoying herself in the midst of the chaos of battle.

The challenger whistled. "Wow," she said to herself. "I _must_ know your name."

Caeldori demonstrated her naginata theatrics that she had been working on for the past month as a way to intimidate foes. "I am Caeldori!" she announced, her voice lowering in an attempt to add to her intimidation. "I am the scourge of all of Nohr, should they dare face me!"

"Wow," the challenger interrupted, unfazed by Caeldori's attempt at intimidation. "You sound _just_ like Ophelia. Caeldori, was it? The name's Soleil. Remember it. It's a shame that we're on different sides of the battlefield, otherwise I could see us being great pals."

Caeldori stood in silence. This girl, Soleil, seemed to be even more excited after Caeldori's theatrics. As Caeldori was breaking out of her shock, she noticed that Soleil was already fast approaching. Caeldori dove out of the way of the incoming sword slash, still holding on to her naginata.

"I really hate to do this," Soleil lamented, her voice in obvious sorrow. "But a girl's gotta do what a girl's gotta do."

"I can tell you're a tough opponent," Caeldori responded, no longer trying to modify her voice for the sake of scaring her competitor. "But I'm not going down easily either!"

Soleil smiled, and Caeldori felt a smile come to her own face. The two of them charged at each other nearly simultaneously. Due to the advantage in length that Caeldori's naginata had over Soleil's arming sword, Caeldori was able to pressure Soleil much easier. Soleil was almost constantly dancing out of the way of the two-metre spear, as Caeldori similarly used her trained skill to switch how far forwards or backwards she held the shaft of the spear. Caeldori knew that if Soleil had gotten past the range advantage that Caeldori had, Caeldori would be on the ropes. Caeldori had it in high priority to keep Soleil at a distance, though Caeldori had her own special-made short spear in order to ward off sword fighters that had gotten within the sphere of Caeldori's protection.

Soleil was dancing out of the way of every attacking strike, though she was not able to get past of rugged defense of Caeldori's naginata. Whenever Soleil herself would attempt and attack, Caeldori would pressure Soleil aside. Though Caeldori knew that she could not keep up the dance forever, Caeldori was hoping that her opponent would tire herself out before Caeldori would move in to finish the deal. No matter who it was that Caeldori fought when she was training up against a katana user, Caeldori won with not so much as a scratch on her armour.

Soleil was different, however. After several minutes of the constant dance, Soleil had managed to parry aside an errant naginata thrust and rushed in towards Caeldori. Caeldori dropped her naginata and quickly unsheathed her short spear in order to attempt to block Soleil's strike. Soleil's blade easily cut through the wooden shaft of the spear, and Caeldori now had to go on the defensive, much like her opponent had been doing just three seconds prior. Caeldori had eventually managed to dance her way into picking up the katana of a fallen Hoshidan soldier and effectively blocked Soleil's strike.

"I can tell you aren't used to using a blade that's not on a stick," Soleil jokingly said. "Your grip is far too tight, you're slowing down each and every strike that you attempt. Of course, you don't want to drop your sword…"

Caeldori interrupted Soleil. "Why are you helping me?" she asked.

Soleil smiled a nearly sinister grin, though it still had some childish playfulness to it. "I've been wanting a challenge," she said fiercely, pushing Caeldori aside. "All of Nohr has been far too easy for me!"

She rushed at Caeldori, who dodged out of the way. Though Caeldori was not very experienced with a blade, she had gotten enough training from her overtime work in order to be competent enough to handle off Soleil for some time. The two of them fought with such a ferocity that the sounds of their blades clashing drowned out the sound of the rest of the battle, leaving no time for any other noises to creep their way into hearing.

It had been another two minutes until Soleil showed signs of the initial dance, her swings slowing down. Much the same as Soleil had done to Caeldori not too long prior, Caeldori parried aside a slow sword swing and began to aim for her opponent's head. As she was swinging the blade down, however, something had come over her and she quickly shifted her arm to the right, grazing Soleil's arm. Caeldori then delivered a swift kick to Soleil's face, sending her down in a heap.

"Retreat!" the familiar sound of the Hoshidan general Yumanero's voice rose above the clamour as the adrenaline rushed out of Caeldori's head.

Caeldori heaved her unconscious opponent over her shoulder and whistled for her pegasus, who swiftly arrived, and Caeldori and her new prisoner mounted the beast and flew away to catch up with the fleeing army, dodging arrows all the way.

The sun had just begun to rise. The Nohrians attacked in the middle of the night, and it had to have been at least three hours later that the sun had begun to rise. Caeldori was patrolling the quiet campsite the Hoshidan army had set up several miles off of Fort Jinya. The faces of many of the soldiers were downtrodden, and Caeldori understood why. One of her good friends, a fellow pegasus knight by the name of Yunalara, had been struck down by a storm of arrows and plummeted into the Canyon below. Caeldori was making a beeline towards the prisoner's camp, set up on the outskirts of the army camp.

Many of the Nohrian prisoners (of which there were very few in the haste that the Hoshidans had made to escape) were out in the open, with only the Hoshidan guards and the makeshift fence to keep them in line. However, in the middle of the prisoner camp, there was a large, leather tent, heavily guarded. That was where the two most important prisoners were. Caeldori walked into the tent and her gaze met the two captives.

"Such sorrow that the true hero must be bound in a tent on the ground," the red-haired one with very revealing clothes mumbled to herself.

"Alright, Ophelia," Soleil had responded rather lazily. She looked up and saw Caeldori, and her face quickly lit up. "This," she said, with more enthusiasm in her voice, "is Caeldori, the person who defeated me."

Caeldori looked at Soleil quizzically, before the red-haired one, Ophelia, spoke. "It is a very difficult feat to have beaten my friend Soleil. I am Ophelia Dusk, born of the Night! All those who hear my name shall tremble!" Her face of joyous triumph quickly turned to embarrassment as she realized the situation she was in. Caeldori had remembered that Soleil had mentioned something about Ophelia, though she could not remember what.

"It's a pleasure to meet you?" Caeldori returned, not knowing how to respond.

It was Ophelia who was to respond next. "So what shall our Hoshidan captors do to us?" she asked, an eerie calm in her voice.

"I believe we are just going to keep you as captives," the voice of Caeldori's father added in. He was already in the tent, and it seemed as if he had been there for some time, as the tent door was still completely still. "Caeldori, I shall deal with the prisoners. You go along and prepare for our counterattacks. I have faith in you, Caeldori."

Father turned and smiled, which caused Caeldori to return a weak smile before heading out and doing as her father had commanded. Thoughts were running through her head. _Why had this war started? Who all would be lost in the war? Will my parents-_ she interrupted her thought before fully going through. She had stopped in the middle of the prisoner camp and felt as a tear went down her eye.


End file.
